The trajectory could not have been set up better for Max Homa. The lone bright spot on the U.S. Ryder Cup team in Rome, the 33-year-old appeared primed to take another leap in a career that has been defined by them. Early returns in 2024 indicated the race upwards and to the right persisted, but after reaching a high point at Augusta National Golf Club in April, that trajectory turned sharply over the remainder of the PGA Tour season.
Contending on the second nine at the Masters for the first time in his career, Homa proved that his game -- capable of winning at Riviera, Quail Hollow Club and Torrey Pines -- was indeed strong enough to put himself in position win a major championship.
The floodgates never opened as expected once his final putt dropped at Augusta. The rest of Homa's year was plagued by inconsistencies off the tee as he failed to find a level of comfort with the driver. Often missing badly in between the ropes, Homa endured grueling range sessions outside the ropes in hopes of finding a remedy to his waywardness.
The results never came as he concluded the 2024 season without a top-20 finish in his last nine starts. Placing 46th in the FedEx Cup standings, Homa was an omission for the postseason finale for the first time since 2021. Homa ultimately split ways with long-time swing coach Mark Blackburn.
Now he enters the 2024 Zozo Championship at 45-1, according to sports betting site DraftKings sportsbook, tied for 14th-best odds in a star-studded field. He hopes that taking more ownership of his swing will pay off.
"It's been about two months now [without Blackburn]. I'm definitely a little rusty," Homa said this week. "I took a bit of time off after the Presidents Cup. … I've had some help along the way, but it's been nice trying to figure out and own my own stuff a bit more. But yeah, the swing feels OK.
"You could get a little rusty when you're working on new stuff; it's not really the most fun thing in the world. At times, golf can feel like riding a bike, especially when you get on a golf course, you're not on the range, you can start seeing shots and feel what's going to work well."
Despite the inconsistencies, Homa still warranted a captain's pick from Jim Furyk for the U.S. Presidents Cup team. He more than held his own compiling a 1-2-0 record that looks worse than his actual play and included a Sunday singles victory to improve his career record in team events to 8-3-1.
Homa played well that week at Royal Montreal in ways we have grown accustomed to seeing him succeed: holing out for eagle from the fairway and converting clutch putts. He may have proven to himself that he is not as far away as the season's results indicated. Homa certainly believes this to be the case as a year mired with struggles has produced at least some positives.
While it was his worst driving season since his infamous 2017, it was also his best around the green. Homa became a savant from greenside bunkers and continued to improve his chipping and pitching, which previously held him back.
In a perfect world, Homa will ultimately blend his improved short game with his typical strength -- ball striking -- next season, returning as a new-and-improved version of himself.
But if his 2024 taught us anything, it's best not to get ahead of ourselves in projecting his potential success.
"I am excited for '25 in that a lot of things I wasn't particularly good at to start '24 I did become quite good at," Homa said. "So with another couple months of work and being able to hone in the things I didn't do well in the past season, you know, I still grew in areas. It just didn't show because I didn't drive it well this season, didn't hit it particularly well.
"It was a frustrating year, but it doesn't mean that's always going to be a net negative. Just you're going to need to do a good job of taking what you did improve on and put that to good use for the next season when you do play better in the areas you struggled in.
"I'm excited for that. I'm excited for the things I've gotten better at, and I'm just going to continue to work on the things I struggled with last year."
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